340 NOAKHALI. advanced 4 miles within twenty-three years. In the last century the river reached up to the head-quarters station of Sudhárám, which is at present 8 miles from the bank. The alluvial accretions to the south are now being cut away, and it is possible that the Megliná may again for a time approach the station. But notwithstanding all temporary checks, the process of land-making is slowly but surely going on to the south and west, as is clearly indicated by a comparison of Rennel's Atlas with the recent Survey Maps. On the southern side of the mainland, and to the east of Hátiá Island, the localities most exposed to the full sweep of the tide, diluvion takes place to a great extent; but the loss from this cause is more than compensated for by alluvion. The estuary of the Meghna, being encumbered with shoals and islands, has two tidal waves. At every full and new moon, especially at the time of the equinox, a "bore' or tidal wave runs up for several successive days. It is highest at the mouth of the Phení river, and in the channel between Hátiá and the mainland, where the tides meet ; and it is felt as far up as Raipur. The 'bore' presents the appearance of a wall of water, sometimes 20 feet in height, with a velocity of 15 miles an hour. There are two canals in the District, and 35 ferries, yielding revenue to Government. The average annual number of deaths by drowning during the ten years ending 1873 was 242. A large river traffic is carried on, by which the surplus produce of the District finds its way to Chittagong; but there are no large river-side towns. Since the manufacture of salt has been prohibited, the industries of the river and seaside population are of the same character as those of the people living inland. Nearly all get their living either wholly or partly by agriculture or by keeping cattle, large herds of which are pastured on the small islands or chars, which are covered with long grass. Even the boatmen follow agriculture as an auxiliary means of subsistence, although many of them annually migrate to Akyab and Bákarganj for einployment, while others work as boatmen in Calcutta. Almost the only people in the District who live entirely by river industries are the fishermen, whose small hamlets are met with on all the rivers and watercourses. Long-stemmed rice is extensively cultivated in the lowlands and marshes in the interior of the District. The plant grows with the rise of the floods, and is said to live in as much as 14 feet of water. Reeds grow spontaneously on the new alluvial river formations, and can be had for the cutting. Long lines of embankments have been constructed along the sea face of the mainland and of the islands in the estuary of the Meghná; but these frequently fail to afford adequate protection, and as in the case of the cyclone of 1876, are sometimes overtopped and washed away by storm-waves, which inundate the country for miles inland, causing a vast destruction of human life and property.
